A German doctor who was kidnapped and driven across the border into France to face charges of killing his 14-year-old stepdaughter nearly 30 years ago has pleaded his innocence to a court.

Dieter Krombach, 75, looked distraught and put his head in his hands as judges ruled out his legal team's attempt to have the case thrown out and declared his trial for the death of French teenager Kalinka Bamberski would go ahead.

Leaning on a crutch in the dock, the frail former cardiologist, 75, dispensed with his translator to stand and address the court in French.

"I did not kill Kalinka. I want to stress that I am not guilty, that I did not kill Kalinka and that I did not rape Kalinka," he said. Sitting facing him on the opposite side of the oak-panelled court the girl's father André Bamberski, a civil party in the case, stared unmoved.

Bamberski, 73, a retired accountant has admitted orchestrating Krombach's kidnap after a crusade spanning nearly three decades to have the man he believes raped and killed his daughter brought to justice.

Next to him, separated by lawyers, was the dead girl's mother Daniele Gonnin, who was married to both men, and has, in the past, defended Krombach against Bamberski's accusations. She is also a civil party, saying she wants "to find out the truth".

Krombach's lawyers fought to have the case thrown out on the first day of the hearing on Tuesday, insisting the German authorities had declared there was no case against him and under European Union rules he could not be tried twice for the same crime. They also argued that his "violent" kidnapping had been an "odious crime" in itself.

Kalinka was found dead in her bed in the home her mother shared with Krombach near Lake Constance in Germany in July 1982. Krombach admitted giving her an injection of iron compound. He first said it was to help her tan, and later to combat anaemia, even though the sporty teenager was said to have been in perfect health.

Although German investigators dismissed the case for lack of evidence, France's legal authorities decided there was a case to answer. In 1995 Krombach was convicted in his absence of "intentional violence that led to unintentional death" – or manslaughter – in a French court and sentenced to 15 years in jail.

Krombach, who had refused to attend the trial, referred the case to the European court of human rights, which declared the French court had been wrong to conduct a trial in his absence and fined France.

However, two years later in Germany, Krombach pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl after sedating her in his office. He was given a two-year suspended sentence and banned from practising. He continued working and was later jailed for practising without a licence.